In a bid to bolster its Rafale fighter jet fleet, India is reportedly seeking quicker deliveries of Israel’s advanced X Guard fibre optic towed decoy system. Ordered by the Air Force, the system allows the jets to better navigate hostile airspace.
As per sources cited by The Economic Times, the system has been integrated and tested on the fighter jets, however, the delivery timelines have slipped due to supply chain issues and the unrest in West Asia.
How the X guard system works?
Manufactured by Rafael Advanced Defence Systems of Israel, the X Guard fibre optic towed decoy system is a state-of-the-art electronic warfare solution designed to safeguard fighter jets from advanced radar-guided threats.
It is extensively used by the Israeli Air Force and is a reusable decoy system that is merged with the electronic warfare suite of fighter jets. The system, designed to imitate a fighter jet’s radar signature, is carried on a pod at the aircraft’s hard point and activated during missions involving high risk.
The device is released during missions and trails behind the jet, connected through a fibre-optic line. It functions as a decoy, drawing air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles away from the aircraft by mimicking the aircraft’s profile. Once the threat subsides after the decoy drives the missiles away from the aircraft, the system is retracted and neatly stowed in its pod.
During Operation Sindoor, the X-Guard system reportedly proved its effectiveness by successfully deceiving Pakistani air defence systems and missiles. Former US Air Force pilot Ryan Bodenheimer termed the deployment “the best spoofing and deception we’ve ever seen,” and said it may have “redefined the rules of electronic warfare.”
The towed decoy provides high-value active protection that defeats the most sophisticated radars, dramatically increasing aircraft survivability. The system can be deployed in less than two seconds and is designed for retrieval and reuse.
The system is certified for use within the fighter aircraft operational flight envelope, at low and high altitude, and subsonic to supersonic velocity.
Strategic importance
The fast-tracking of X-Guard reflects India’s pursuit of maintaining technological superiority in aerial warfare and its strengthening defence ties with Israel, a major provider of advanced systems.
It also signals a balanced approach -- leveraging global tech while also developing homegrown capabilities like the upcoming Rafale fuselage production unit in Hyderabad.
The first fuselage sections are expected to roll off the assembly line in the 2028 financial year, with the facility expected to deliver up to two complete fuselages per month.
The Indian Air Force currently operates 36 Rafale fighters. India also signed a deal in April with France - its second-largest arms supplier - to buy 26 naval versions of the jets for $7 billion, which are expected to be delivered by 2030.
India used fighter jets in four-days of fierce clashes with Pakistan in May, after a deadly attack in Pahalgam that claimed 26 lives.
Pakistan's defence minister had said three of India's Rafale fighter jets had been shot down during the fighting but did not share any evidence.
(With Reuters inputs)
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